Sorcerer Wars
by sorcerer-nick
Summary: A story created using original ideas and using ideas and themes from the Kingdom Hearts series. Also contains a crossover between this story, and Articunomew's Worlds Apart. Sam's struggle to stop Nick from taking over the world of sorcerers.
1. Chapter 1

The Sorcerer Wars

The Power of Friendship

In my world, sorcerers run the show. They are in government, they are council workers… Everybody is a sorcerer. Sorcerers love to have battles of magic to test their skills. That is how sorcerer battles came to be. Now, my story begins just before the Sorcerer wars. My story describes the heroes of the wars. But these wars were 70 years ago. Not many linger that fought in those wars. It begins with two friends… Myself and Sam…

…

Sam panted softly as he ran down a long corridor with his robes flying behind him and his staff swinging back and forth. Sam was a 14 year old boy, quite tall in stature. He had flaming red hair and freckles all over his face. He wore a blue robe with a white cape. He carried a gnarled staff with a Sapphire set in the top.

Suddenly, as he neared the door and his escape, a tongue of fire wrapped itself around his legs and tripped him over. He jumped up immediately to face whoever had sent the tripping spell. He hoped against hope that it wasn't…

"Nick" said Sam Stonily.

"Hello Sam," said Nick, "I expected you to be here, leading the Sorcerer law enforcement squad, raid my castle. I expected no less."

Nick was born on the same night as Sam, under the full moon, but was only 13 years old as he had been frozen when he turned 13 but had broken out on Sam's 14th birthday. He also was a tall boy, much taller than Sam. He had Shiny blonde hair and steely blue eyes, unlike Sam's, whose eyes were Sapphire blue. He wore a red robe with a black belt and cape, which were a sign of evil. He held a metal staff with a ruby set in the top. Nick had a sarcastic drawl to his voice which really annoyed Sam.

"Sam, though you and I are both the most powerful sorcerers in the world, you being good and I being evil, and both of us on the same power level, this time I will kill you. Dark Fire Stream!!!" cried Nick as a stream of red and purple fire issued from Nick's staff and launched at Sam. Sam, with amazing acrobatic skill jumped the fire, did a roll in mid air and at the top of his jump, launched a torrent of water at Nick, by saying "Water Torrent"

"Nick, stop this madness! Remember when we were little? And we said we'd be friends forever? And we cut our arms with the same rock, to mark our friendship?" said Sam.

At that moment, the scar on Nicks left arm twinged with pain, and Sam's Right arm twinged with pain where the scars were left. Nick Stepped back, clutching his arm and chest where the water had hit.

"Fire has no weakness to friendship! DARK FIRE STREAM!!!" Nick roared as he again launched the stream of fire, this time hitting Sam in the chest, as he was caught by surprise. Sam gasped with pain and clutched his chest. "Just because you are the leader of all the good sorcerers in the world, doesn't mean you are powerful enough to defeat me! The lord of evil sorcery." Said Nick.

"Yo-You know v-v-very well that you and I are of the same power level." Gasped Sam.

"My fire power will evaporate your water power!!!" cried Nick.

"Not if I put that fire out with my water first! Bubble Trapper!" cried Sam.

From the sapphire in the top of Sam's staff, a large blue bubble emerged, flew at Nick and trapped him in it. Nick was trapped, floating in the bubble. Slowly, as if submerged underwater, Nick curled into a ball. He and the ruby in his staff both glowed red and then the glow exploded in a surge of red energy. The bubble was gone. Nick was free.

Nick pointed his staff at Sam and said "Dark Molten Fireball" From the end of his staff a huge ball of molten fire issued and flew at Sam. The ball was red and purple, like Nick's earlier attack, Dark Fire stream, except it was a ball of molten fire and rock. It was just a little bit bigger than Sam. Once again Sam jumped and pointed his staff at Nick. Without Sam saying anything, from the sapphire in his staff a blue glowing cord shot out and wrapped itself around Nick's body. Only his head was free to move. He slumped to the ground.

"Nick!" cried Sam, "Stop this! Come quietly and I may be able to reduce your sentence in gaol."

As Sam said this, Nick glowed red and the cord disappeared. Nick stood up and held up his staff in front of himself with both hands.

"I don't think I want to come quietly Sam. Let me show you a little move I developed just recently." Said Nick quietly.

Nick brought his staff down quickly and slammed it into the ground. Nick's staff turned into a red beam of energy and flew to Nick and disappeared as it hit him. Nick's body changed into a red glow and started changing shape. As Nick changed the ground shook and the corridor glowed with red light. Nick's form was growing and changing shape. When the change was completed, the ground stopped shaking and Nick stopped glowing. Before Sam, on four legs and about the size of a two story house, was Nick, the red Dragon. He was red all over with black spikes running down his back from his Neck, to the end of his tail. He had black markings around his eyes and had black claws on all four sets of toes. Smoke was issuing from his Nostrils. Nick the dragon opened his mouth wide and let out a ferocious roar. Then he looked down upon Sam. Sam did not step back, but looked up at Nick's face defiantly. Nick drew his head back and opened his mouth as a blast of purple and red fire streamed from his mouth at Sam. The Stream of fire was as round as two buses side by side. Sam quickly looked for a way to dodge the fire but it was too close and too wide to dodge. Sam fell to one knee and held his staff in front of him with two hands and said "Water Shield." Just before the fire engulfed Sam, a shimmering blue orb enclosed around Sam, shielding him from attack. As the fire engulfed the orb, it warmed up on the inside of the orb and Sam broke a sweat, but the fire did not get through.

The stream of fire subsided and Sam stood up as his orb disappeared. "Sword," said Sam and his staff changed into a sword with the sapphire from Sam's staff in the hilt. The sword glowed blue. Sam jumped up and landed on Nick's snout. Sam drew up to his full height and brought his sword down and stabbed it into Nick's nose. Nick bellowed and writhed in pain. Sam pulled his sword out of Nick's nose and jumped down just as Nick glowed red again and shrunk back to his normal form. As Sam landed on the ground from his jump, the sword in his hand changed back to the gnarled staff with a sapphire at the top. Nick was once again in his normal form and a deep cut on his nose was oozing blood. Nick fell to his hands and knees, panting. As Sam approached Nick a few of Nick's men came running around the corner to defend their master. As they approached Nick held up his staff at them, while still on the ground. Just in front of them a red force field appeared, stopping them from reaching Nick.

"This… Is… Between me… And Sam," said Nick slowly, "So Sam, heh heh, you've beaten me. So what are you waiting for? Finish the job. Kill me! That's what you intend to do right?"

Sam walked slowly up to Nick. Sam grabbed Nick under the armpits and pulled him up.

"Nick…" said Sam, "Why did you go the wrong way? I don't want to kill you. You are my friend." – Nick groaned as the scar on his arm twinged again – "And friends look out for each other"

Nick still had his head bowed and no one saw the tear that fell from his eye onto the front of his robe. Nick straightened up and looked Sam in the eye. "You always had that advantage over me, you being water and I being fire. But look now! My power has increased using dark powers." Said Nick. As Nick finished saying this, WHOOSH, He burst into flames and disappeared.

"Nick…" said Sam quietly.

All around the castle, dark sorcerers were disappearing and following their master to their new hideout.

"Commander Sam," said a voice behind Sam.

"Brandon, how many times do I have to tell you? You don't have to say Commander unless you really want to." Said Sam.

"Well, Sam, all dark units have fled the castle, leaving no traces." Said Brandon, Sam's right hand man and captain of the sorcerer law enforcement squad. Brandon controlled the power of electricity.

"And I found this note Sam" said Corporeal Ashlee as she walked up to Sam. Ashlee was Sam's third in command. She controlled the power of Nature. "We have tried opening the note, but every time we try, a little pink spark makes the note fly from our hands. And on the front of the note, your name is written in pink handwriting.

"Thank you Ashlee," said Sam as he took the note. He glanced at the front, muttered "Karen" and opened the note. The note read:

_Sam,_

_I'll meet you at your office at midnight. I need to talk to you._

_Karen_

"It's from Nick's girlfriend, Karen." said Sam, "She wants to talk to me."

"Doesn't she have power over love?" said Brandon, "She might be dangerous, if Nick sent her."

"No, Nick didn't send her. I know for a fact that She's worried about Nick for some reason," said Sam, "I just don't know what."

"Well, we'll wait outside your office when you meet her just in-case." said Ashlee.

"OK" said Sam.

…

I will stop now to describe Brandon and Ashlee, as I didn't do it before. Brandon wears a yellow robe with a white cape and carries an ordinary straight wooden staff with a small gold piece in the top. He has dark hair and eyes. Ashlee wears a green sleeveless robe and a white cape. She carries an ordinary straight wooden staff with a small emerald in the top. She has dark eyes and copper hair. Now back to the story,

…

"How many units did we lose?" asked Nick, who was huddled over the open fireplace in an underground hideaway.

"Two, taken into custody, three injured and five killed" replied General Zac, Nick's right hand man. He controlled the power of Earth. He wore a dark green robe, a black belt and cape and carried a regular black wooden staff that had a dark green jewel in the top.

"What of Lieutenant Lachlan?" asked Nick.

"He is checking the foundations of this new base," said Zac, "And, um, Nick, with all due respect, it's a bit dark down here and I only feel comfortable because we're in the Earth."

The Underground flashed with light as flaming torches appeared all along the walls, all through the hideout after Nick tapped the ground with his staff.

At that moment Lachlan came in the door and thought that he was not noticed, so it took him by surprise when Nick addressed him.

"Lachlan, is it true that everyone is afraid to dispute me, just because of my huge power" asked Nick sadly.

"Well, uh, yes sir" said Lachlan cautiously.

Nick slowly raised his staff and pointed it at Lachlan without turning to face him. Lachlan stiffened with fear and as the top of Nick's staff flashed, Lachlan covered his face. But the pain didn't come. He opened his eyes and found a table creaking under the weight of a banquet. 'Thank god it was only a basic food making spell' thought Lachlan 'but I wonder why he didn't blast me? It could have something to do with his meeting with Sam today. I know they used to be friends.'

Lachlan wore a grey robe with a black belt and cape. He carried a black wooden staff which had a clear crystal in the top.

'Karen doesn't think that I know where she is. But I know where she is. My dark powers have a homing device on all my men and even women.'

"Tonight, I go outside alone. I have an errand to do" said Nick finally.

"Sir! Don't you need an escort?" Asked Lachlan.

"Lachlan," said Nick smiling, "I am equally the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Do you think I'm in any danger?"

"No sir" said Lachlan.

"Well, I'm going now. Zac is in charge." Said Nick.

As Nick was about to teleport he stopped. "Oh and Lachlan. You are my friend, so call me Nick, not sir." Nick disappeared in a burst of flame.

…

_To Be Continued………_


	2. Chapter 2

The Sorcerer Wars

You can't control the Power of Darkness without being evil

Sam slipped quietly into his office at Law Enforcement squad headquarters. He closed the door quietly and looked around. It was dark in his small office and no one was there but him. His wooden desk was laden with documents about evil sorcerers and there was a carved wooden statue of a Phoenix. There was a couch in front of his desk with a pile of pink rags on it and filing cabinets lined the walls. Sam sat down at his desk, opened a drawer and took out a flask and a cup. He screwed the lid off the flask slowly and poured out some coffee into the cup. He was about to take a sip when the pile of rags moved. Immediately Sam raised his staff and flooded the room with an eerie blue light. Sitting on the couch was Nick's girlfriend Karen. She was shielding her eyes with her hands, one of which was holding a regular wooden staff with a pink jewel in the top. She was wearing a pink robe which began from her armpits and finished at her thighs. She had long blonde hair and crystal blue eyes.

"Put that thing down Sam," said Karen, "I was hoping that your curtesy would not be depleted like Nick's but I have been let down yet again."

"What do you want Karen?" said Sam, "You know that you are a wanted sorcerer because you have joined Nick, so don't waste my time."

"You've known Nick since you were little, right?" said Karen, "You see, the thing is, I'm worried about him. Since he's had these dark powers he's been constantly muttering under his breath, He says that his body is sore all the time, and whenever he makes a decision he starts saying it, then a dark look clouds his face and then he changes his mind"

"Those are the effects of using the power of darkness," said Sam, "You cannot control the power of darkness without being evil. Soon after you begin to use the power of darkness you will start to lose your identity. Soon the dark powers will take control of your body and then you will cease to exist."

"Nick…" said Karen.

"Yes my sweet" said a voice from the corner.

Karen gasped and Sam raised his staff.

"Nick! Come back to us! Leave the dark powers alone! They will consume you!" said Sam.

"I am afraid not Sam. You see, I have mastered the dark powers and they will never have any power over me again! I will always be Nick, Master of fire and darkness!" said Nick, "Karen. I did not give you leave to be alone with this filth. You wait at the base for me" Nick pointed his staff at Karen. Bright red chords shot out of the ruby in the top and bound Karen tightly. Nick then tapped the ground with his staff and Karen disappeared in a burst of red and black flames.

"I will leave now as I am weary from the lives I have taken today, and from our battle," said Nick, "And when I go, you might want to take a look at your little door guards." Nick disappeared in a burst of red and black flames.

Sam ran outside, into the corridor and found Brandon and Ashlee slumped against the wall with cuts all over and burn marks all over their bodies. Their staffs lay discarded next to them.

Sam ran up to Ashlee. He held his staff in front of her face. His sapphire in the top of his staff glowed with blue energy as did Ashlee.

"My healing powers aren't too good, but if I manage to heal Ashlee, she being a good healer, she will be able to heal Brandon" said Sam.

Ashlee's body twitched, then she opened her eyes, looked at Sam and muffled a squeal.

"I'm so sorry Sam! I just…"

"No, don't apologise. It's not your fault." Said Sam, "Just heal Brandon."

"Right," said Ashlee, grabbing her staff and pointing it at Brandon.

Brandon glowed with a green light momentarily and then awoke, got up and grabbed his staff.

"Where is he," Brandon fumed, "I'll kill him!!! Honest to god, I'll kill him"

"Just calm down!" said Sam, "Tell me exactly what happened"

"Well," said Brandon, "We were just about to have a peek into your office, to make sure you were still alone, when Nick turns up. He says 'A lovely night for a stroll, wouldn't you agree?' So I said 'What do you want? I knew this would be a set up!' Then Nick holds up his hands and says 'no, no, no, I assure you, Karen doesn't know that I'm here, and I'd rather keep it that way until I've completed my task' So I told Ashlee to go and alert Sam and she turned to go, and Nick just gets her with a tripping spell. She turns around, gets back up and we both prepare to battle. We both send powerful spells at him and he sends out a stream of dark looking fire, casual as you like, and it just engulfs our spells and then I see them coming at us. Then everything went black."

"And I'm sorry to tell you both," Said Sam, "That was not his most powerful spell."

"So, what happened in your office Sam?" said Ashlee.

"Well, Karen appeared on the couch and talked about how Nick was acting strangely. So I told her about how the power of darkness consumes people. Then Nick turned up, declared that he is a master of fire and darkness, then he bound Karen and sent her to his base and he followed shortly." Said Sam.

Sam Brandon and Ashlee all sighed

"What happened to him Sam?" sighed Ashlee.

Sam looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

…

"So, what happened with Karen, Nick?" asked Zac.

"Don't worry, I have taken care of her. Now Zac, Lachlan. I have devised a special plan. A plan for power. Let me just close the door and I will explain." Said Nick.

Nick pointed his staff at the door to the meeting chamber and it swung shut slowly.

Nick tapped the desk with his staff and a hologram appeared showing 3 strange items.

"These are the artefacts of power. There are three artefacts. The Artefact Bracelets, The Artefact Necklace and the Artefact Belt," said Nick, "Now, When these three artefacts are brought together and worn by a sorcerer, they create an enormous power. My plan is to gather these and then use them to overthrow Sam. It is said that the sorcerer formed when these artefacts are worn is called the Artefact mage."

"The Artefact Mage!!!" cried Lachlan, "There has not been a proven mage in… 2000 years!!! And he died because his body couldn't control all the power and it exploded, Not to mention he was an adult!!! We are teenagers!!!"

"Yes Nick! Are you really willing to risk one of our lives to gain power?"

"Of course not!!! I intended to wear them myself." Said Nick.

Zac and Lachlan fell silent.

…

The next day, Zac and Lachlan were walking down the hallway to the assembly hall where all were about to be briefed on the mission for the artefacts.

"I never learnt about mages," said Zac, "Would you mind explaining what they are?"

"Well," said Lachlan, "If a sorcerer ascends to the level of 'Mage' then they are far more powerful and wise than any other sorcerer. There are four kinds of mages that are known of, The Artefact mage, The Dark Mage, The Black Mage and the White Mage. The Artefact Mage is the weakest because its power is external, not internal, but it is still extremely powerful. The White, Black and Dark mages are said to be equal in power. To date there has been 1 Black mage, 1 White Mage and 100 Dark Mages. Only one person knows all there is to know about Dark Mages, and 2 people know about white and black mages."

"Who?" asked Zac.

"Sam knows about dark mages and the other two. Nick only knows about white and black" said Lachlan.

Zac and Lachlan had reached the assembly hall side room. Nick was waiting for them. Nick signalled for Zac and Lachlan to follow him. They walked onto the stage. All of Nick's followers were assembled in the hall. Nick raised his hands and cried out.

"The time has come where we prepare our weapon to overrun the Law Enforcement squad. You have been split into three groups. One will come with me to the Australian Outback, The second with General Zac to the Egyptian Pyramids and the final group with Lieutenant Lachlan to the great wall of China. I will now brief these two and then we will be off." And Nick led Zac and Lachlan into the side room again.

"Lachlan, go to the wall and have half of your men set up a base and half begin searching for the artefact necklace. Zac, Likewise, except go to Egypt and look for the Bracelets. I will go to the centre of Australia and find the belt. I'm taking Karen with me."

"Ok" said Zac and Lachlan in unison.

"Good luck" said Nick.

Everyone in Nick's base disappeared in a flash of flames. It was deserted.

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

The Sorcerer Wars

Welcome to Egypt

A crowd had gathered under the shade of the great pyramid.

"How long has that been there?" asked Leonard, a young Egyptian boy holding his mother's hand.

"Not long dear. Apparently it just appeared out of thin air this morning." Replied his mother.

Leonard looked thoughtfully at the large metal building.

"They must be pretty strong sorcerers mommy. Nobody around here can do that, not even old Pharas." Said Leonard.

At that moment, a large door at the front of the building opened slowly and out of it walked a boy dressed in a dark green robe with a black belt and cape and carrying a wooden staff with a dark green jewel in the top.

"People of Egypt!" he cried, "I am General Zac, Right hand man of Lord Nick."

At this, a few people gasped and some even screamed.

"We are here," continued Zac, "To carry out an operation so if you all cooperate no-one gets hurt. We will be investigating the great pyramid, and if anyone comes near the operation, our guards will take them into custody."

"You are not welcome here." Said a voice from the background. Zac turned around. An old man in a tattered grey robe and leaning on a gnarled old wooden staff was walking towards him. His staff had no jewel. He was hooded, but a long dirty grey beard protruded from the hood.

"Who," said Zac, "Are you?"

"My name is Pharas. I am the only sorcerer around here for miles and I can't let you disrupt the ancient pyramids."

"Remove him" said Zac casually to some goons. Two goons advanced on Pharas. The top of their staffs glowed with dark energy. Just as they were about to launch their attacks, Pharas threw off his hood and blasted the goons with one blast of gold energy. Zac stepped back in surprise. Regaining himself, Zac stepped forward.

"Begin work on the pyramids, I'll deal with this personally." He said, as he raised his staff. Zac's staff glowed with dark green energy, and Pharas' staff glowed with gold energy. At the same time, they both launched their attacks. They collided in the middle and for a moment struggled against each other with it's user straining to make their attack win. After a few shoves from each side, the attacks exploded in a burst of green and gold energy. Dust flew up all around and when it cleared, Zac was panting slightly, but Pharas was leaning heavily on his staff.

'I'm getting too old for this' he thought.

They both launched attacks again at the same time, except Pharas' was much smaller and was consumed by Zac's. The attack hit Pharas and he was disintegrated.

The rest of the area fell silent. Zac lightly brushed some hair out of his eyes and turned to the workmen watching him.

"Get to work!" yelled Zac.

…

Sam was sitting at his desk with his feet on the table. He was smoking a large cigar and listening to a report from Brandon.

"Apparently there was a disturbance in Egypt near the great pyramid yesterday. An elderly sorcerer was murdered by a huge dark green blast." Said Brandon, "My guess is that it was Zac"

"Naturally," said Sam, "I wonder what Zac was doing in Egypt?

He was obviously there on Nick's orders and Egyptian pyramids do have strange ancient energies but I don't know what Nick needs them for or how he would utilize them."

"Well one thing's for sure," said Brandon, "They're not there to stop at the country club"

"Oh well," sighed Sam, "you should turn in for the night. There's nothing we can do tonight."

"OK," said Brandon, "see ya tomorrow"

Brandon left Sam's office as Sam stood up and turned to put some documents in his filing cabinet. As he closed the cabinet and locked it he heard his door swing slowly open and then closed again. Someone had entered the room. Sam spun around to face them as his staff appeared in his hand in a flash of blue light. To his relief, it was only Ashlee.

"Oh Ashlee, It's jus… What's the matter?!" exclaimed Sam as he saw the troubled look on her face.

"Oh it's nothing… it's just…" and suddenly, Ashlee walked over and fell into Sam's arms.

"Ashlee, wha…"

"Haven't you realised yet?" cried Ashlee, "I love you Sam! I've been trying to decide whether to tell you or not over the past couple of days, and now I've decided"

Oh, So that explains Ashlee's distantness over the past couple of days, thought Sam.

Ashlee stood up and rubbed her eyes and looked at Sam.

"Ashlee, I…" Sam began.

"Just tell me, do you love me too or not?" said Ashlee quietly.

Sam looked down, his face red. Ashlee walked up to Sam and kissed him. Lightly at first, but then Sam reciprocated.

…

Sam woke up and looked at where he was. He was in his bed at home and his room was dark so it was obviously morning. Good, he thought, It was a dream. Then he looked to the other side of his bed and saw Ashlee laying there asleep under the covers, naked. Sam swore quietly. As he made to get up he felt Ashlee's hand grab the back of his jumper and pull him back into bed. As he fell back into bed Ashlee kissed him and said "good morning Sir" in a purring voice, and then continued kissing him. Sam pulled away and said "Ashlee, we can't do this! We're friends!"

"We're more than that now," said Ashlee as she made to grab Sam again. Sam jumped back out of the way.

"I'll see you at work," he said as his robes magically appeared on him and his staff appeared in his hand. And in a flash of blue energy, he was gone. When Sam had disappeared, Ashlee's eyes glowed pink and a figure outside Sam's house, robed in pink, hastily shuffled away.

…

At 10:00 AM Sam arrived at his office and began pacing in deep thought. Suddenly he slapped his hand to his forehead, as though something had clicked.

"Karen." Said Sam quietly, as though summoning her to talk to him. Nothing happened. Sam took a deep breath and:

"KAREN!!!" he roared as he raised his staff. A blue bolt of energy fell from the ceiling and hit the ground. Out of it appeared Karen looking flustered, dizzy and confused.

"You could have asked," said Karen impatiently.

"You didn't come when I called so I forced you to come," said Sam, "Now down to business… WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TRYING TO PULL?!?"

"Oh come on Sam! Lighten up and have some fun!" said Karen, "As you know I have the ability to see who people love and I saw that Ashlee loves you and you her, so I helped her, shall we say, _Release_ her love. But apparently I went too far and turned her into a Sam crazy love machine!"

"Well now that you've had your fun you can lift the spell." Said Sam quietly.

"And what if I don't?" said Karen fiercely.

Sam raised his staff and began to advance on her.

"OK, OK, OK, OK!" said Karen, "I'll do it! Jeez!"

She raised her staff and it flashed momentarily pink and then dulled. After a few seconds another ball of pink light flew through the wall and disappeared into the top of Karen's staff.

"There, I did it," said Karen, "can I go now?"

"Get out of my sight," scowled Sam.

As Karen was about to disappear, she paused and said:

"Have you seen Nick lately? I just haven't seen him in a while,"

"No I haven't," said Sam.

Karen shrugged and disappeared in a flash of pink energy.

Sam sat down and kneaded his forehead with his palms. After a while Brandon and Ashlee walked into his office. Ashlee and Sam both went extremely red, but Brandon was indifferent, having not noticed anything.

"pack your things guys, we're going to Egypt," said Sam.

…

In a flash of Yellow, Green and predominantly blue, Sam, Brandon and Ashlee appeared in the desert. A second later, in a large flash of black energy, they were surrounded by hundreds of Nick's henchmen.

_To Be Continued………_


	4. Chapter 4

The Sorcerer Wars

What are you planning?

Sam, Ashlee and Brandon were surrounded by five of Nick's men. Each was pointing their staff at the three companions, but were shaking slightly when they looked at Sam.

"Well, if it isn't Sam! And look! Some goons from the Sorcerer Law Enforcement Squad! Nice of you to join us," said the dark sorcerer who appeared to be the leader, "Let me assure you that as an executive of Master Nick's movement, I will not allow you to meddle with our affairs!"

"By saying that you're an executive, are you trying to say that you stand a chance against me?" said Sam, "After all, how many executives are there?"

"There are only ten for your information, and yes I am saying that executives are more powerful!" said the executive.

once again I will stop to describe somebody's appearance. Nick's goons all wear one black robe and carry a normal wooden staff without a jewel, but executives wear a black robe with a small red cape that comes down to their waste. They carry a normal wooden staff with a small gold nugget in the top. Back to the story 

"Let's take em," whispered Brandon, "They are no match for us. Look!"

Brandon raised his staff and pointed it at a goon. The gold piece in his staff glowed momentarily yellow, then released a bolt of lightning at the goon. The goon disintegrated instantly. Ashlee pointed her staff at the ground. The small emerald glowed momentarily, then a huge vine rose out of the ground and wrapped around two goons. They yelled and screamed as they were crushed. The vine dropped them on top of the last goon. Only the executive was left.

Sam pointed his staff at the executive. A torrent of high pressure water shot out at the executive. With great agility, he jumped out of the way of the water and pointed his staff at Sam, unleashing a beam of dark energy. The attack took Sam by surprise and blasted him in the chest. He stepped back and winced, but quickly regained his stance. The Executive landed lightly on the ground and smiled. The smile was wiped quickly away as vines twisted up out of the ground and coiled tightly around his legs. He looked and Saw Ashlee pointing her staff at him.

"Good move," growled the executive, "but not good enough".

Slowly, but gradually getting faster, the executive started spinning around. As he sped up, dark energy started forming and spinning with him. Soon he was a small human-sized twister of dark energy. When he stopped spinning, and the dark energy subsided, the executive was standing there with his arms folded and holding his staff loosely, and smiling triumphantly.

"Who are you?" cried Ashlee.

The Executive laughed and threw back his hood.

"It is I, Angus, friend of Nick!" he cried.

Angus was average height and chubby. He had dark, black hair and brown eyes.

Sam coughed sarcastically.

Angus seemed not to notice.

"I will now crush you all!!!" he cried.

"Yeah right" muttered Sam.

At the same time, Sam released a torrent of water at Angus, Ashlee shot a beam of green energy at him, and Brandon unleashed a bolt of yellow lightning upon him. Angus countered by releasing copies of their attacks at them, A torrent of Dark liquid, a beam of dark energy and a bolt of dark lightning. The attacks collided and exploded in a huge surge of multicoloured energy. When the smoke cleared, none of the four sorcerers were showing any sign of weakness, even Angus, after countering all three attacks at once.

Brandon and Ashlee tried a practiced move. Ashlee ran at Angus. Angus quickly cart wheeled out of the way, but as he regained his feet, Brandon unleashed another bolt of lightning at him. It curved up and then down onto Angus, engulfing him in high voltage electrical energy. When the lightning subsided, Angus was standing there leaning heavily on his staff, and panting hard.

Angus, smiling, said "heh, you caught me off guard there, but I assure you, it won't happen again."

"This guy's tough, he stood up to my lightning," Brandon whispered.

"I know. I don't think we have a choice. We'll have to unleash our full force upon him." said Sam.

"What are you whispering to each other over there?" called Angus.

"We were just saying how we were going to kill you, Executive." said Ashlee.

"Bubble trapper!" cried Sam.

From the top of Sam's staff, a bubble was unleashed upon Angus, trapping him submerged inside. Angus was not powerful enough to break free.

"Now Brandon," said Sam.

"My pleasure." said Brandon.

Brandon pointed his staff at Angus. On the end of his staff, a ball of electrical energy was building up. Angus watched helplessly from inside the bubble as the large ball of electricity was released at him as a bolt of lightning. In a flash of yellow light the bubble containing Angus was engulfed with powerful yellow electricity. Angus was writhing and screaming in pain. Suddenly, the bubble and electricity exploded with a huge surge or energy. Sam, Brandon and Ashlee shielded their faces with their arms as dust and wreckage blew up from the force of the explosion. When the dust cleared, there was no sign of Angus. All that was left was the small gold nugget from his staff. As Sam was about to approach the Gold nugget, the ground shook, and in a flash of dark green light, Zac appeared.

He looked around and took in what appeared before him.

"Well, if it isn't Commander Sam, and his cronies from the law enforcement squad. And what's this! You've disposed of Executive Angus! What a pity!" said Zac sarcastically. As he said this, he bent over and picked up Angus' gold nugget. Zac Suddenly jumped out of the way, as Brandon launched a bolt of electricity at him.

"So Close," said Zac, still holding the nugget.

"Zac, what is Nick planning to do here?" said Sam.

"Like I'd tell you that. Nick would be furious," said Zac, "But, if you manage to get to me in the lab, I might tell you what he has in mind."

"Your recruits won't be a challenge for us Zac!!!" said Brandon.

"Of course! If I had known it was you three that had come, and not some dim-witted law enforcement officer, I'd have done this first." said Zac

Zac pointed his staff at the ground. His Staff jewel flashed dark green. Slowly, out of the ground floated a series of rocks. They all glowed with dark green energy. Suddenly they flew together, and joined onto each other. They were forming a shape. When the rocks stopped moving, floating before Sam, Brandon and Ashlee, still glowing dark green was a human shape, made completely out of rocks. It was about twice the size of a full grown man. When the Three Law enforcement elites had observed what was before them, Zac lowered his staff. The Rock soldier stopped glowing and floating and dropped to the ground, landing on its feet. It stood up to its full height, towering above Sam, Brandon and Ashlee.

"Try and get past this," said Zac, "I'll be amazed if you do. Destroy them Rock soldier."

When Zac finished his sentence, His figure slowly faded and then disappeared. The Soldier held out its hand, and more rocks flew up out of the ground, and formed a sword in the soldier's hand. The soldier then leapt into battle. It swung at the three law enforcers with its rocky sword. Sam and Ashlee, both being very agile were ready for this attack. They sprang lightly out of the way, but Brandon was hit with the full force of the sword. He flew up into the air, and landed roughly on the ground 20 metres away. Ashlee let out a small squeal of horror. But Brandon slowly got back to his feet, and faced the rock soldier. He pointed his staff at his foe.

"Brandon, No!!!" cried Sam as Brandon's staff began to glow with yellow electrical energy.

Too late, Brandon, who had cuts all over his body, unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning in retaliation of the soldiers attack. The bolt hit the rock soldier, and glanced off its solid surface in Sam's direction. Sam was not quick enough for Brandon's fast moving lightning attacks, and was hit directly. The electrical energy engulfed Sam. He cried out in pain, until Brandon stopped his attack, realising what he had done. When Sam was released from the electrical energy, he slumped to the ground, his face down.

"Ashlee, you hold off the blockhead, I'll check Sam!" cried Brandon in shock.

"OK," cried Ashlee, wrapping the rock soldier with vines in a flash of green light.

Brandon hastened over to Sam and bent over him.

"Sam! Sam!" cried Brandon, shaking Sam softly by the shoulders, "Are you OK?"

Brandon looked at Sam's face. His eyes were open.

"I'm fine," said Sam, his voice weak.

"I know you're in pain Sam. You specialise in water. I specialise in electricity. I know it hurts you most out of all specialties." said Brandon concerned.

"I'm fine," repeated Sam as he got up, wincing as he did so. As he went to stand up straight, his body trembled, and he clutched Brandon's shoulder for support.

"Help!" squealed Ashlee. While Brandon had been helping Sam up, Ashlee's vines had snapped, and the rock soldier had grabbed her, and was now proceeding to squeeze and crush her.

"Ashlee!!!" yelled Brandon.

Suddenly, the giant soldier stumbled back as a powerful torrent of water hit it square in the chest. In the process, the Soldier dropped Ashlee. Brandon looked to his side and saw Sam, standing at his full height, and the torrent of water still issuing from his staff, which was pointed at the giant. As the torrent of water subsided, Sam bent slightly and started leaning heavily on his staff.

"You… You will n-not stop... us." panted Sam.

The Rock Soldier made a lunge at Sam, but Sam was too fast. Though his energy was sapped from the hit with Brandon's lightning bolt, he was still able to leap into the air as the giant passed underneath him, turn around, and unleash a powerful blast of blue bolts of energy. The giant turned around just in time to take the full force of the attack in the chest. The Rock Soldier stood stock still as its entire body shuddered. Then suddenly, all of the rocks that formed its body just fell to the ground in an untidy heap. Sam smiled with triumph.

"Oh Sam! Stay still" cried Ashlee, as she rushed over to Sam. As she was standing right in front of Sam, She pointed her staff right in his face. Her Staff jewel glowed soft light green and then Sam's whole body was engulfed by the same soft glow. He felt renewed strength flood through his veins.

"Thanks Ashlee." said Sam, as the procedure was completed.

"We should move out of the area. That way, we won't be as easy to track." said Brandon.

"You're right, we should get moving," said Ashlee.

Sam nodded, and they began to walk in the direction of the pyramids. They had to walk approximately 10kms. As they began walking, Ashlee leading, then came Brandon and Sam bringing up the rear.

"I do not blame you for hitting me back there Brandon," said Sam quietly, "You did not know that your attack would be reflected."

"I just feel guilty because I was acting out of anger, and as we both know, anger is what turned Nick to… well, you know." Said Brandon.

"Let us speak no more of it. All is forgiven." Said Sam.

"Right," said Brandon sternly.

As they continued on their hike, somewhere far away, the most evil sorcerer in the world let out an evil, triumphant laugh.

_To Be Continued… … …_


	5. Chapter 5

The Sorcerer Wars

What Do You Mean, Other Worlds?

"This Better be important, Nick," said Zac impatiently, "I'm in the middle of destroying those fools with Sam."

"Quite the contrary Zac," said Nick coolly, "If I had not called you here, _you _would probably be the one being destroyed."

Zac didn't reply.

"What do you want Nick, and make it snappy, as me and Zac are carrying out _your _operation," said Lachlan.

"I called you here to tell you about a little development Lachlan." said Nick. An apple appeared in his hand and he took a great slow bite. Zac tapped his foot impatiently.

"Well?" said Zac with a hint of annoyance.

"I just thought I'd inform you that I've developed the power to transport myself to other worlds." said Nick, smiling.

"What do you mean other worlds?" said Lachlan.

"What I mean is that you two are going to continue your operations and Karen will take over my operation. I'm going to go to the first world I find and see what I can." Said Nick.

"You can't be serious!" cried Lachlan, "You're out of your mind!!! There's no such thing as another world."

"Oh yes there is, and I'm going now. Zac is in charge, and Karen is already stationed at the red centre. Do you understand…? Lachlan?"

"Yes Nick," said Lachlan.

"Good. Stand Back!" said Nick.

Nick raised his arms out wide, with his staff glinting in his right hand, and aimed at the centre of the room, began concentrating. After a few moments, a multi-coloured portal shimmered into view. Nick turned around.

"Um, Nick, Have you done this before?" Lachlan said slowly.

"No, but I'm sure it'll work." Said Nick, and with that he turned and stepped into the portal. A strange noise that sounded like sizzling started coming from the portal, then suddenly Nick and the portal disappeared with a small pop.

"Well, if that worked Nick must've travelled to another world," said Lachlan, "And though Nick is equally the most powerful being in this world, who knows how powerful the entities of other worlds are?"

"He'll be fine," said Zac, though his voice shook slightly.

Both Zac and Lachlan were silent for some time. After about 2 minutes, Lachlan seemed to come to his senses.

"We should get back to work," said Lachlan.

"Yeah," agreed Zac.

"See you soon Zac," said Lachlan, "No matter what happens, you will always be my best friend."

Zac opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it, and merely nodded and disappeared in a flash of dark green light. Lachlan stared at the spot where Zac had stood, and slowly faded out of view, glowing with grey energy.

…

Brandon cursed loudly.

"What's up?" asked Ashlee.

"We've been trekking for hours now, without rest, across the middle of the desert under the beating sun with no food or water. No Ashlee, don't worry, nothings wrong. We're only walking _10Kilometres_," said Brandon wearily.

"Yes, it is strange that we've been walking so long and have not managed to travel even 10 kilometres," said Sam pensively.

"Now I wonder why that could be," said Ashlee sarcastically, "Zac has the power of _Earth!!! _He must be shifting the sands!"

Three forlorn figures slumped to the ground in exhaustion in the middle of the boiling Egyptian desert. It had been exactly 3 hours since Sam, Ashlee and Brandon had begun their trek and the pyramid which they were travelling to seemed to be getting further away rather than getting nearer. Even the cups of pure water that summoned to their hands by Sam did not improve their moods. As they sat drinking thoughtfully, they thought of how to avoid Zac's power. Brandon suddenly jumped up, causing Ashlee to gag on a mouthful of water.

"I've got it!!! Oh get over it Ashlee, you aren't going to die from it, its only water. Now, we obviously can't travel in the air to avoid the ground, but if we travelled on something that _separated_ us from the ground, we could get there easily," said Brandon excitedly.

"Good idea Brandon, but in case you hadn't noticed… WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A DESERT WITH NO SUPPLIES!!! What are we going to travel on if there isn't anything _to_ travel on?" cried Ashlee exasperatedly.

"We'll have to improvise," said Brandon simply.

Brandon pointed his staff at the sky above their route. Dark black clouds rolled slowly over the area, occasionally emitting loud bursts of thunder. Soon they had formed a vast blanket of blackness over the desert. Brandon took a breath and from the end of his staff shot a small ball of yellow energy to the very heart of the congregated clouds. The ball hit the centre and huge ripples of force ran through the clouds. Suddenly from where the ball hit the clouds a huge, absolutely huge yellow bolt of lightning blasted down towards the ground. When it hit there was a huge crack and a flash of blinding light. After a while the flash subsided. Before the three officers was a huge crater that stretched right up to the base of the pyramids. All of the sand seemed to be disintegrated by the electricity, as there were no mounds of sand around the edges of the crater. The grey clouds had disappeared.

"Well that's great Brandon," said Ashlee, "All you've achieved is a great big hole in the ground, and I'm afraid that doesn't get us closer to the pyramid."

"Hmm… if only it was filled with water… we could cross the lake," said Brandon, looking meaningfully at Sam. Sam met Brandon's gaze and suddenly understood. Sam tapped the sand with his staff. A small puddle appeared at his toes and then proceeded to run into the crater. It slowly disappeared out of their sight. After a few moments they saw a huge amount of water that seemed to be getting larger and larger extending from the centre of the crater. In a matter of seconds, before them was a huge lake.

"Nice work Einstein," said Ashlee, "But now we have to swim which will take even longer."

"If only we had a _wooden_ canoe," said Brandon in much the same manner as when asking for water in the lake.

Ashlee thought for a moment and then her eyes widened in sudden realisation. She frowned for a second as a wooden canoe fit for three people appeared (complete with oars) in a flash of light green energy. Without a word Brandon pushed the canoe into the water. It floated perfectly. Brandon stood aside slightly.

"All aboard!" he said brightly.

Ashlee and Sam boarded first, and Brandon followed them with the oars.

"Leave them," said Sam.

Brandon dropped the oars and hopped into the middle seat. Sam, sitting at the back, held his staff over the edge of the canoe. From it issued a huge torrent of water which propelled the canoe forwards at speed. As the three friends were carried away in their makeshift boat in their makeshift lake, they were silent, as they were unsure what the opposite shore would bring.

"5 minutes guys," said Sam.

…

"Keep digging!!! We must find the Bracelets as master Nick instructed!!!" cried Zac.

Zac was overseeing a huge digging operation in the lowest chamber of the great pyramid. A strong magical aura was radiating below ground, and Zac was sure he had found the Artefact Bracelets.

"Keep digging!!!" cried Zac.

"You're not digging any further!!!" cried a voice from the chamber entrance.

"Sam, Brandon, Ashlee!!! Nice of you to drop by," said Zac, "leave us," he added to the workers.

All the workers in the pyramid disappeared, leaving the huge chamber empty. Zac tapped the ground with his staff. A huge boulder appeared at the chamber entrance, causing the exit to be blocked.

"For you, it all ends here!!!" cried Zac.

"This is your last chance Zac! Surrender and you will not be charged for your crimes!" yelled Sam.

"Never!!!" spat Zac.

Zac pointed his staff at Ashlee and Brandon. Curls of dark energy slowly wound themselves out of the ground and enveloped Ashlee and Brandon in them, leaving nothing but two big balls of darkness. In retaliation, Sam blasted Zac with a huge torrent of water, and waved his staff at the dark orbs, causing them to release their prisoners in a blue flash. Zac was already on his feet. He sent small, rapid blasts of dark green energy at the three officers. They parried the blasts, but Zac didn't stop.

"You guys hold the blasts and I'll stop him!" cried Brandon.

"Right!" cried Sam and Ashlee in unison.

Brandon sprang back a few feet, and Ashlee and Sam moved closer together to cover the gap, while still parrying the blasts with their swiftly moving staffs. Brandon raised his staff, pointing it at Zac. Golden Energy began to accumulate on the end of his staff, until there was a huge ball of energy on his staff. Suddenly, Brandon unleashed the ball of energy upon Zac in the form of a huge bolt of golden lightning. The lightning hit Zac square in the chest, causing a huge explosion of energy.

When the smoke cleared, Zac was leaning heavily on his staff.

"Together!" cried Sam.

Sam, Ashlee and Brandon all unleashed huge beams of energy which combined to form a rainbow coloured beam of energy. It was huge. Zac hastily stood up straight and unleashed a dark green beam that was just as big. The two beams met in mid-air, and struggled against each other. It was too much for Zac. The rainbow beam engulfed Zac's beam, and then hit Zac. When the last of the beam was gone, Zac was left standing, his outline shimmering with rainbow energy. A ball of dark energy suddenly peeled off his chest and slowly faded away into nothing. Zac's eyes flashed with dark green energy and then became wide. He looked at his hands with a look of disgust on his face.

"What have I been doing?" he said weekly.

Zac began to fall over backwards, dropping his staff as he fell. Sam ran over and caught Zac just before he hit the ground. Sam held Zac in his arms.

"Y-Y-You must remove the darkness from Nick's Heart. It's the only w-w-way. He's still good. It's the darkness. It j-just t-takes contr…." wheezed Zac, unable to finish.

Zac began to cough, and suddenly, patches of his body started to just disappear, till all that was left was his head with a hole in his forehead.

"Be c-careful… Nick… in… other… worl…," stuttered Zac, when suddenly, he fully disappeared in a small shower of dark green sparks.

Ashlee sniffled and wiped her nose in the background. Brandon stood looking at the ground. Sam stood up slowly and turned around. Suddenly, out of the ground flew the Artefact Bracelets. They stopped in mid-air and just floated, as if asking Sam to take them.

As Sam moved forward to take the bracelets, a bat suddenly swooped and grabbed them in its abnormally large mouth, and flew to the now clear entrance to the cave… where Nick was standing. What was worse was, he wasn't alone. The bat suddenly formed into a pale faced Vampire with a pure black robe, clutching the bracelets in his pale hand. Next to Nick was a dirty skinned Pirate with a large cutlass and an old-fashioned pistol. He wore mostly dark shabby clothing, and a huge hat with a feather. Next to the was a normal looking person wearing jeans and a T-shirt… except he had one eye.

"Thank you, Syliss," said Nick lazily, obviously addressing the vampire.

"Nick, put those down!!!" Roared Sam.

"He'll be doing no such thing mate," said the pirate in a cruel growling voice.

Brandon pointed his staff at the pirate and let out a bolt of yellow lightning. Just as quickly, the guy with one eye let a huge blast of red energy flow from his eye and clash with the lightning. Both attacks fizzled out.

"Who are these people Nick?" roared Sam.

Nick replied by slowly fading out of view with his companions.

"What did Zac say, Sam?" asked Ashlee softly.

"He said that Nick was in another world. And I think he brought those guys with him." Said Sam…

_To Be Continued… … …_


	6. Chapter 6

The Sorcerer Wars

The Heartless

"So here's the deal," said Nick, "You go looking for this "keyhole" with the "heartless" that I send to accompany you. Got it?"

"Yes Nick," said Lachlan, "but, I'm a little curious, where are those guys that you brought back from other worlds, and why aren't we looking for the artefacts anymore?"

"I assure you," said Nick, his eyes twinkling with an evil glint, "you will never see those people again. As for the artefacts; I have already found those myself, and we will not need them if my plans for the keyhole are successful. Now I will warn you, if your heart is vulnerable even for a second while you are working with my heartless, they will take your heart. You must keep complete self control over yourself."

"I understand," said Lachlan, solemnly.

"Though you can't control the heartless yourself, I can," said Nick, "and I have ordered them to obey you to the letter. If you need more heartless, you will be able to summon them using your will, unless of course, your heart is faltering. You can use the heartless to attack others, defend yourself or carry out operations. However, you will also need to take sorcerers, as heartless only act on instinct, but our sorcerers will think and be perceptive."

"OK. So I take some heartless, and some sorcerers and search for the "keyhole". Got it, but, where should I look?" asked Lachlan.

Nick chuckled darkly.

"It could be anywhere in this world. I haven't been able to narrow it down at all. It will most likely be in an area of high magical concentration. Now I must go. I will search the Southern Hemisphere, you search the Northern," finished Nick.

"But where will Zac search? Is he already off searching somewhere?" asked Lachlan

Nick's head drooped as he looked at the ground. Not meeting Lachlan's eyes, Nick said sadly:

"Zac is.. another person that you will most likely never see again."

With that, Nick disappeared in a flash of red energy.

Lachlan stood very still for a few moments, shivering slightly. He looked up at the ceiling sadly.

"Why.." said his faltering voice, as he disappeared in a flash of grey energy, leaving the dark chamber empty.

…

"So, why exactly are we here?" asked Brandon.

"Because there have been reports of massive variations in the weather," said Sam.

"But what does that have to do with us?" asked Brandon.

"Wherever there's weird weather, Lachlan's probably not far off from it," said Sam.

"Oh," said Brandon. "And, um, why are we looking for Lachlan?"

"Because, if we can take away Nick's closest supporters, then he'll be all alone and more open to attack," said Ashlee impatiently.

"Oh," said Brandon. "I thought it might be something like that. Then, why did we teleport to a place a mile away from the objective location and why are we walking the rest of the way?"

"So that we aren't detected, but if you don't shut your big mouth, we can kiss the element of surprise goodbye," growled Ashlee impatiently.

Brandon stomped on in silence for the remainder of the trek.

This particular trek was through a tropical rainforest on a small island in the Indonesian Archipelago. As the three friends continued towards their destination, Ashlee glowed with a soft green energy due to her being surrounded by the abundance of plants and animals around her. Sam and Brandon, being used to this simply ignored her, as did most of the 10 law enforcement squad officers they had with them. The weather was extremely warm, and would have been unbearable if it weren't for Sam using some clever magic to keep his squad cool.

As they drew near their destination, the centre of the island, Sam was about to turn around and brief the squad when suddenly there was a flash of pink energy right in front of him and Karen ran into him, sending both of them crashing to the ground.

Sam got up slowly, rubbing his arm where he fell on it, but Karen leapt to her feet, looking around in fear as she did so. She didn't seem to notice that she had just knocked Sam over.

"Uh, Karen," said Sam, "Are you OK?"

Karen jumped at the sound of her name and finally seemed to notice Sam for the first time.

"Sam! Am I glad to see you!" cried Karen, "Listen, you've got to help me!"

"And why do I need to do that?" asked Sam patiently.

"Well…" said Karen, "Nick's trying to kill me."

"WHAT?" cried Ashlee, Brandon and Sam in unison.

"I know, I know," said Karen, "It's all my fault. You see, Nick never loved me. I loved him, so I used my magic to make him love me. But somehow, I think the darkness in his heart has grown so much that my powers over him have been neutralised. When he found out, he came after me, and I don't think its long before he finds me again."

"Karen," said Sam, "Did you cast your spell on Nick before or after he started doing evil?"

"Before," said Karen, "I hate the way he is now."

Sam seemed to consider this for a moment, and then,

"Squad Team Alpha, prepare for battle!"

The squad formed into a line facing Karen and the three ranking officers.

"Karen, Ashlee, Brandon," said Sam, "Get behind the line."

As Karen moved behind the line, Ashlee and Brandon moved forward to stand beside Sam in attacking positions.

"We're not gonna let you do this alone," said Ashlee.

"Yeah, friends stick together," said Brandon.

"Well, get ready," said Sam, "because I can sense that Nick is about to arrive."

In a flash of flame and darkness, Nick appeared before Sam and the squad. He looked around for a moment, only showing surprise for a split-second after he arrived.

"Well, well, well," sneered Nick, "If it isn't Commander Sam and his bumbling band of law enforcer morons. A pleasure as always."

Nick sunk into a sarcastic bow, holding his cape out behind him.

"Nick, I know you're not going to surrender," said Sam, "and I realise how powerful you are, but I can not let you harm a vulnerable sorcerer, even if she did play a dirty trick on you."

"Well Sam," said Nick, "This is just another example of the power of darkness. The darkness inside me became so great that it released me from this foul witch's curse. Now step aside before I make you, Sam. I will take great pleasure in blasting all of you out of the way, do not doubt that."

"I am not stepping down, Nick!" cried Sam.

Nick looked Sam in the eyes for a moment, and then began to laugh. It was an evil laugh that sent a shiver down the spines of all present.

"Well, Sam," sneered Nick, "I'm rather disappointed that you're too stupid to realise when its time to give up; But then again, I'm kind of glad that you didn't, because this gives me a chance to test out my new… Acquisitions…"

Nick tapped the ground lightly with his staff. There was a quick flash of dark energy, and suddenly, Nick was not alone. In front of him stood ten strange looking creatures that writhed and twitched where they stood. The creatures were human shaped except they had claws instead of fingers and the only clothing they wore were black boots that ended in a curl of material, and the silver helmets with a spike in the centre of the top, pointing upwards. They were predominantly blue, except their claws were red and on their chests was a symbol that was a black heart outlined in red with a cross coming in from the outlines and crossing in the middle of the heart. Their heads bore no distinguishable face, and were completely black except for two small yellow eyes.

"What are they, Nick?" asked Sam in a worried voice.

"These are Heartless, Sam," said Nick simply, "They are the result of a person losing their heart. When this happens, the person's heart leaves their body and transforms into a heartless. The body then disappears. If you destroy a heartless, the heart is released and travels to a world called "Kingdom Hearts", the heart of all worlds. However, the facts are the least of your troubles at the moment."

"Did you learn this from those guys from the other worlds, Nick?" asked Sam angrily.

"No, I disposed of them after I found someone else in another world. Someone who is by far smarter than those idiots," said Nick lazily.

"Well, I don't care how smart they are, Nick," cried Sam, "Stop messing in other worlds and stop trying to destroy our world!"

"Oh, I'm not trying to destroy it. I'm trying to CONTROL IT!" cried Nick maniacally, "Heartless! Attack these idiots, and take Karen back to my base in the Arctic Circle!"

When he finished saying this, Nick disappeared in a burst of fire and darkness, and the heartless leapt at the squad. Two squad members were immediately silenced, as their hearts, glowing with pink energy, were taken out of their bodies, floated away slightly, transformed into two more heartless, and then disappeared in a flash of dark energy. Sam quickly retaliated by blasting three of the heartless with blue energy, causing three hearts to be released, and rise into the sky, disappearing in a flash of pink energy at a particular height. The heartless took 3 more hearts whilst one heartless ran over to Karen and grabbed her, preventing her escape. The sorcerers were finding it hard to hit the heartless, and only Sam, Ashlee and Brandon seemed to be having any luck. Finally, when there were only 5 squad members, 4 heartless and the three ranked officers left, the 3 heartless still fighting ran over to the one that held Karen. They all grabbed hold of her and they all disappeared in a burst of flame and darkness.

Panting, Sam turned to address the remaining squad members.

"I fear that you will be in danger should we encounter any more heartless. This being the case, Captain Brandon, Corporal Ashlee and I can handle this ourselves. You are all dismissed. I don't want to put you in any more danger. Go back to HQ and warn the Intelligence Department of this new threat."

The 5 officers saluted and disappeared in a flash of multi-coloured light.

Sam turned to Brandon and Ashlee.

"This is terrible!" cried Ashlee, who was panting and sweaty, "Nick can't just bring in these Heartless and go around taking people's hearts!"

"Yeah," said Brandon, "This time, he's gone too far."

"Well, the only way we're gonna get to the bottom of this is by defeating Nick and forcing the information out of him," said Sam, "and a critical step we can take towards this is taking Lachlan down. Are you two willing to continue on our objective, just the three of us, against Heartless, sorcerers and whatever else Nick and Lachlan can throw at us?"

"Of course we are!" cried Ashlee.

"You bet your a-"

"Brandon! Language!"

"Sorry Ashlee."

"Well," said Sam, "We haven't got any more time to lose. Let's get this over with!"

The three companions continued running towards their destination, staffs raised and ready to fight.

…

"The Keyhole is not here, Nick,"

"Damn it. I'll admit, though; my hopes weren't very high."

"Shall I pull out then?"

"No,"

Lachlan and Nick stood facing each other in a circular clearing in the centre of the Indonesian Island. The beautiful blue sky was visible overhead and there was not a cloud in the sky.

"What reason do I have to stay, Nick?" asked Lachlan.

"Sam and his fools are on their way here," sneered Nick, "They detected your weather patterns and traced you here. I want you to wait here for them and when they get here prevent them from leaving. Now, if you use your imagination, you can summon a powerful Heartless. Heartless come in various shapes and sizes, and if you concentrate hard enough, you will be able to summon one that you can work with to defeat Sam, Brandon and Ashlee. Summon this heartless and crush them. I don't want to hear from you again, until they are dead, or have lost their hearts. Is that understood?"

Lachlan swallowed but said nothing.

"Is that understood?" asked Nick again, firmer this time.

"Y-yes Nick," said Lachlan, voice shaking slightly.

"Good," said Nick darkly, "I'd hate to think that your resolve was weakening. Oh look, here they come now!"

Lachlan turned around to see Sam, Brandon and Ashlee running through the trees towards him.

"Do not let me down"

Lachlan turned again to see the last bit of flame as Nick left him. Another turn and Lachlan was facing the approaching party, preparing for the confrontation that was sure to follow.

_To Be Continued… … …_


	7. Chapter 7

The Sorcerer Wars

Cherish Your Heart

Karen sat anxiously in a chair made of ice, shivering slightly. She was trapped in a large igloo, deep in the arctic circle, being guarded by dangerous heartless and within the power of the most powerful evil sorcerer in the world. To make matters worse, she had just been playing a trick on this sorcerer for the past few months that involved him being forced to love her. Her future didn't look particularly bright.

The arrival of the evil sorcerer, Nick, was obvious when he appeared in a burst of flame and darkness. He simply smiled at Karen, however, it was not a warm smile, and nor was it a gleeful smile. It was a smile that resembled a hungry tiger that had come across some ignorant deer.

"Leave us," said Nick shortly.

The heartless disappeared in several small flashes of dark energy.

"Amazing creatures, heartless," said Nick. "They are born of hearts, are destroyed only at the hands of another heart and release a heart upon their defeat. It really makes you appreciate the damage a heart can do, and the damage you can do to a heart if you… mess with it."

Karen shivered uncomfortably, but not because of the cold.

"Are you going to kill me?" asked Karen shakily.

"No," said Nick, "I am going to use you in experiments of the heart."

With these words, one heartless appeared beside Nick. It was about 2 feet tall, human shaped and completely black except for two little, yellow dots for eyes. Its fingers were sharp claws.

"See, I am curious," said Nick, "What would happen if a heartless, a being infused with the powers of a heart, could be controlled and then boosted with the power of these:"

Nick held out his hand. In a small burst of flame, the artefact bracelets, necklace and belt appeared, floating above Nick's hands.

"But what does that have to do with me?" whimpered Karen in a high pitched voice.

"Slow, aren't you?" sneered Nick, "Karen, yours will be the heartless that I will mix with the artefacts."

Nick clicked his fingers. The heartless leapt at Karen. Karen's scream was cut short as her heart was extracted. Her heart floated over and transformed into a heartless, just a common shadow heartless like the one that had removed this heart. Karen's body disappeared. Before Karen's heartless could disappear to the world of the heartless, Nick clicked his fingers. Karen's heartless snapped to attention, whilst the other heartless disappeared in a flash of darkness. Nick began to advance on Karen's heartless with the artefacts still floating in front of him.

…

Sam, Brandon and Ashlee ran into the clearing, defiant looks on their faces and staffs poised ready to attack.

"Time's up, Lachlan!" cried Brandon.

Lachlan stared at the three friends for many moments. Finally he grunted and his staff flashed with grey energy. In an instant, the edges of the clearing were blocked off by a swirling mass of impassable grey energy, revolving rapidly around the clearing. It was impossible to see in or out of this barrier. The only evidence of where they were was the blues sky above and the grass beneath their feet.

Sam, Brandon and Ashlee looked around for any sign of a break or hole in the energy, but none could be found. They looked back at Lachlan to see that he had his eyes closed. When he opened them again, a swirling vortex of dark energy appeared on the ground. Out of it leapt a miniature tornado, approximately human height. It had two yellow eyes near the top of it and had the symbol of the heartless on its middle composed of the swirling energy. The dark vortex closed over after the heartless was out.

After the heartless had appeared, Lachlan slowly rose into the air. When he was about 10 feet in the air he stopped, and gestured at the heartless. The heartless suddenly sprang at Lachlan and covered his body. Lachlan was now a human shaped mass of swirling grey energy, with his head the only visible part of his body. He still held his staff in a swirling grey hand. On his chest were the heartless' two yellow eyes and the symbol of the heartless could be seen on his abdomen.

Sam launched a torrent of water at Lachlan, but it bounced harmlessly off his swirling shield. Ashlee launched several vines at Lachlan, but they were shredded by the energy. Brandon blasted Lachlan with lightning, but had to jump out of the way as the lightning joined the vortex then leapt back at him. Lachlan raised his free arm. It stretched down towards Sam and flicked him backwards, into the energy field, off which he bounced and landed heavily on the grass. Ashlee turned towards Sam, but Sam was already on his feet.

Sam glared at the heartless/Lachlan. He pointed his staff at them. The heartless glowed with blue energy, and suddenly exploded, releasing a heart, and causing Lachlan to fall 10 feet to the ground. Lachlan slowly got to his feet. He pointed his staff at Sam, ready to strike; however, his arm shook violently. Instead of attacking Sam, Lachlan lowered his arm and sighed loudly.

"I can't do it!" cried Lachlan, "You and Nick were such good friends, and now he wants me to kill you? I just can't do it!"

Brandon walked over to Lachlan and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You've made the right choice Lachlan. You should be very proud of yourself," said Brandon, "I understand that your life is in danger if you don't decide to kill us, but you decided not to anyway. It was a hard choice for you."

"But what am I going to do?" said Lachlan shakily, "Nick will kill me when he finds out that I didn't do as he instructed."

"We can help you with that," said Sam, "I will claim to have killed you, while you just go into hiding. You'll have to live without magic; Otherwise Nick will be able to find you."

"I understand," sniffed Lachlan, "Thank you. Sam. Brandon. Ashlee."

Lachlan disappeared in a flash of grey energy. When he had disappeared, the swirling energy barrier that had trapped Sam, Brandon and Ashlee slowly subsided, leaving their exit clear.

…

"I'm afraid the experiment with the artefacts did not work," said Nick, "The heartless I used was destroyed and the artefacts disappeared."

"That is unfortunate," said a voice that echoed though the room did not have acoustics that caused echoes, "Did you find the keyhole?"

"I have an idea that I'm pretty sure is right."

"Well, I hope it is," said the voice, "I love your citadel. I didn't realise you were the sort of person that lived in a castle."

"I'll admit, I didn't have a permanent dwelling for a while after Sam's last raid," said Nick, "However, I have reoccupied my citadel in order to make myself less detectable. My citadel will not be easily breached by those whom I do not welcome. My forces are very strong when defending these walls, but back on topic. Rest assured, Maleficent, I will soon find the keyhole, and this world will be ours!"

The person, who sat opposite Nick at the table in his large dining room in his citadel, was indeed Maleficent. Maleficent was a witch of extreme power. Her skin was of a pale green hue. She wore a long black robe that had pink and purple lining towards the lower part of the robe. She carried a thin wooden staff with a translucent green ball sitting on the very top of it.

"Come with me, Nick," said Maleficent, "I have something to show you."

A portal or green and black energy appeared before Nick and Maleficent. Maleficent walked in not waiting for Nick to follow. Nick obliged, walking unflinching into the portal.

…

Sam was walking through the corridors of the Law Enforcement Squad HQ. He was whistling contently, but as he passed Brandon's office, he heard Brandon's voice drifting out. He silently stood leaning against the wall next to the slightly ajar door. He could clearly hear Brandon's voice, talking animatedly:

"And then, I blasted him with a bolt of lightning. Even Sam couldn't have stopped this guy, oh no. That Lachlan was a tough one. Sam was lucky I was there to save his skin."

Sam peaked into Brandon's office. Sure enough, there were three, rather attractive, junior female officers sitting before Brandon on the other side of his desk, listening to Brandon intently. Sam chuckled, before walking into the office.

"Oh, Captain Brandon! Were you telling these lovely officers about how you nearly got hit with your own lightning bolt?"

The three female officers quickly left Brandon's office.

"I hate it how you always do that," said Brandon, "I haven't got a chance of getting a girlfriend with you around, do I?"

"Probably not," said Sam indifferently, "Any leads on Nick's whereabouts?"

"No," sighed Brandon, "It seems that he has disappeared off the face of the planet, or more likely gone to another world."

"Damn it!" cried Sam exasperatedly, "All these evil things he keeps bringing into our world just keep getting worse every time. I'd hate to think what he's bringing next."

"Well, I'll keep a watch out for his return," said Brandon, "maybe you should try and figure out a way to follow Nick to other worlds."

"No, I don't think we should do that. Not under those sort of circumstances anyway. We should stay in our own world until this trouble is over. We belong here, and shouldn't interfere elsewhere if there is even the slightest chance that our arrival will bring trouble. Anyway, for some reason, I have this feeling inside me that help is on the way…"

And on that note Sam left the office. As he walked out of the doorway, he bumped into Ashlee. Ashlee smiled, then Sam went red, then Ashlee went red. Both hurried off in opposite directions.

…

_The following is co-written by sorcerer-nick and articunomew as part of their crossover._

"Do you see, young Sorcerer? In any dimension, you will find your enemy is still as powerful as he is in your own dimension. But here he contains the most power of all, the power of one of the ten Universal Crests." Turning, her hand on her staff, Maleficent looked at the young boy next to her. For all purposes, he looked no older than sixteen, which would make any innocent onlooker wonder why the powerful Maleficent had deigned to speak to the boy.

"I have contained that idiot Sam within my own dimension countless times. No matter how powerful he is here, it's his heart that will always stop him. His love for his friends has resulted in my escaping his clutches more than once." The response came quickly and sharply.

"Yes, but here he is surrounded by his own friends, including your own counterpart, who is on the side of the Heart. And that is not taking into account the amount of natural talent and ability he has, even without the help of the Crest of Friendship. I do not know who these other people are, but I would most likely be correct in assuming they are his fellow Crest Holders, and I would also assume that they are talented in their own ways."

"Yeah, like I care? No matter how good they are, they can't stand up to Sorcerer Nick, or the Heartless. Especially not when we're both combined." Sorcerer Nick looked up at Maleficent, fire in his eyes and around his hands. "Or perhaps you need a demonstration Maleficent? I'm not the stupid child you think I am."

Maleficent looked down at the Sorcerer, plainly unimpressed. "You believe you are a match for them? Things in this world are not what you are accustomed to. These are people who are equal, or surpassing, your own power level. And that's just normally. With the power of their Crests at full power, they would be able to destroy you without a thought."

"Because their powers are rooted in the good of people, blah, blah, blah. I heard the speech before. From the Sam in my world, nonetheless. It was very seductive. Once."

Maleficent's nostrils flared, the first sign Nick had seen that she was beginning to get angry. "Fine, you impertinent child, I will show you first hand. And just remember, I was the one who brought you here, and as such, I am many levels over your own power level."

"Yeah, yeah." Rolling his eyes, Nick waved his hands in a dismissal. Turning on her heel, Maleficent spread her arms, and with a flash of green flames, appeared in front of the temple.

Looking at this strange woman, a feeling of insecurity instantly formed in the pit of Sam's stomach. Summoning Nirvana into his hands, he eyed this new person warily. Settling into a defensive position, he held Nirvana at a horizontal level, slightly away from his body.

Behind him, his Pokemon formed a defensive triangle at his back, showing that they would back him up in the case of attack. Their own instincts were screaming at them, and while they didn't have ties to the people behind them, they'd protect Sam at any cost.

Standing with her hands on her hips, Yuna remained wary as well, keeping her muscles loose just in case she needed to draw her guns quickly. The double-sound of steel in the air was Tidus and Link drawing their swords.

A crackle of energy split the air suddenly. Risking a small look out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw blue energy build around Zelda's hands. He was glad he wasn't the only one who had felt the need to be prepared.

Looking at them each in turn, Maleficent weighed them equally. The Sam of this dimension looked the most able to fight, seeming to have connected with his Crest already. The two blonde children had high magical levels, while the two adults looked like they would be able to use a proper strategy.

Casting out her hand, Maleficent summoned a small group of Heartless. She didn't feel pressed to challenge them too greatly, just provide enough of an example for the young fool up on high.

The chilling silence only added to the feeling, but Sam knew a Heartless when he saw one. Telekinetically turning the power on his TWT up, he gave himself a psychic boost as he vaulted into the air, landing in the midst of the Heartless. The ornament tip of his staff glowed blue for a moment, before he spun in a circle, destroying the low-level Heartless. As the hearts released by the Heartless floated upwards into nowhere, Sam faced Maleficent once more. The rest of the group had snapped into action as well. Yuna, now in a stable crouching position had drawn her guns, a wise move as more Heartless appeared on the narrow ice ledge that was becoming thinner as the years went by.

Jumping back over to his Pokemon, Sam crouched down in front of them, sending his own elemental attacks at the Heartless. Gunshots split the air as Yuna fired speeding bullets into the purple 'flesh' of the Heartless, while Tidus and Link went for close-range combat. Within seconds, the Heartless group was decimated once more.

Maleficent grimaced, as Sam, Yuna, Tidus, Link and Zelda rounded on her. The Sorcerer observing high above stirred slightly. Sam established a telepathic link with his companions, and as he was about to suggest a group attack, Zelda's voice echoed into his mind, "On three, everyone. One, two, three!"

Sam unleashed a water spell with every ounce of energy he had, while Yuna shot several rapid gunshots at Maleficent. Tidus leapt at Maleficent, sword drawn, Link let loose a bolt of energy from the tip of his master sword and Zelda fired a wave of blue energy at the witch. Maleficent, taken by surprise, was unable to react to her impending destruction. As the volley of diverse attacks was bearing down upon Maleficent, a blur of billowing black and red material indicated the entrance of the other sorcerer into the fray. He glared defiantly at the Crest Holders and tapped his metallic staff on the ground. A huge wall of flame sprang up from the ground. All of the ranged attacks hit this wall and faded away to nothing, whilst Tidus bounced away, scorched. The only thing that penetrated the wall was Tidus' sword, Caladbolg, which flew out of Tidus' hand and clattered to the ground at the mysterious sorcerer's feet. The wall of flame faded away, its job done. The sorcerer picked up the sword, admiring it in his hand. He smirked at the crest holders.

"So, these are the guys who can destroy me at a normal level without thinking, eh Maleficent?" he said sceptically, "I like your sword, do you mind if I have it?"

The sorcerer laughed as he and Maleficent disappeared in a burst of hot red flames.

_End of co-written section._

_If you desire to catch up with Articunomew's characters, plots, etc read his story "Worlds Apart" on do you see? I am more powerful than you give me credit for, Maleficent," cried Nick, "And before you ask, yes I knew that the sword I obtained would not remain with me. I am familiar with essence spells."_

The sorcerer and the witch stood in the entrance hall of Nick's Citadel, staring each other down with a venom that filled the large room.

"You arrogant boy! Your arrogance will be your downfall," cried Maleficent, aggressively.

Nick quaked with fury. He defiantly pointed his staff at Maleficent and unleashed a large mass of hot, red, fire. Maleficent hastily disappeared in a burst of green flames, and reappeared in the same fashion behind Nick. Maleficent launched a similar attack at Nick's back, the difference being that her flames were a terrible bright green. But Nick was already out of the way. In about 2 seconds, Nick had leapt 10 metres into the air, turning as he rose, pointed his staff at Maleficent, and unloaded a few well aimed bolts of concentrated dark energy at her. Caught off guard, Maleficent received the full punishment of the attack, and was thrown into a pillar towards the side of the hall.

Sitting slumped against the pillar, Maleficent looked up into the eyes of the young sorcerer who was slowly walking towards her. As Nick drew nearer, a rough ring of black and red energy appeared around Maleficent's neck, raising her up against the pillar so that she floated just off the ground.

"Let me make myself VERY clear," hissed Nick, "You will NEVER disrespect me. I know you're used to being in control, being the mastermind behind each plan, and this attitude has caused you to overlook my power. I have now proved that I am more skilled and more powerful than you. If you ever disrespect me again, I will destroy you. Do you understand?"

Maleficent slowly nodded. As Nick was speaking, Maleficent had discreetly summoned a Knight Heartless. As Maleficent nodded, the Heartless charged at Nick from behind. As the Heartless came within a metre of him, Nick spun on his heel and easily disposed of the heartless with a slash of his staff.

The ring of energy around Maleficent's neck subsided, causing her to slide down to her feet. Turning, Nick spoke to Maleficent: "You have 5 seconds to get out of this world and let me calm down. 1…"

Maleficent did not need telling twice. Before Nick could say "2", Maleficent had disappeared in her usual flash of green flames, right out of The World of Sorcerers.

Nick looked up at the ceiling and smiled.

"Soon," said Nick quietly to no one in particular. Turning on his heel, Nick walked down the hall and up the broad, majestic, red-carpeted staircase, with the intention of getting some sleep.

To Be Continued…


	8. Chapter 8

The Sorcerer Wars

We're Goin' Dimensional

Since Nick had released the heartless into the world of the sorcerers, things had started to decline. However, help may have finally come, and turned out to be more familiar than expected…

Staring around at the new surroundings, Sam raised an eyebrow. Around him, the new trees and bushes pulsed with a weird energy, one that seemed to imbue some sort of consciousness within them. He was in some sort of shrine, one that reminded him of the Temple of Gaios in Dictioy. Tentatively stretching out his powers to cover the area mentally, he realised no form of life, other than the plants, were in the vicinity.

Behind him, the portal pulsed and fizzed, shooting out Nick, who stumbled and nearly tripped, but caught himself in time. Straightening up, he turned around to glare at Tidus, who had walked calmly through the portal, followed by Kari.

"That wasn't funny."

"Does it look like I'm smiling?" Tidus retorted, before giving a chuckle. "It was fun though."

Fizzing and spitting again, the portal ejected Yuna, Sora and Kairi this time. Yuna and Kairi managed to land on their feet, in a contrast to Sora, who fell flat on his face. Looking down at the boy at her feet, Yuna grinned, and bent down, to help the Keyblade Master up.

Dusting himself off and taking his own surveillance of the environment, Sora nodded and smiled. "Ok, much better. Last time I went through a portal, I got attacked by a dragon."

In response to Sora's comment, the wind whipped through the clear, tugging at the clothes of the group. It concentrated into the one area, becoming a miniature tornado, which somehow manifested into a young boy, dressed in black robes with a small, beige outline along the lining.

"Oh good, 'bout time someone got here. I was getting bored, why they put me on guard duty here, I dunno."

Looking blankly at the boy, Sam shook his head. Turning his attention back to the group, he shrugged. "Anyway, anyone got any idea where we are?"

"Hey! I'm still here!"

"All I can say is a forest region, very foresty." TK replied. "No animals I've seen yet."

"Don't ignore me! I'll take you down! All of you!"

"Yeah, I did a mental scan of the forest, no animals are nearby. If they are, they can hide themselves from my powers."

Behind the group, the boy suddenly frowned. This boy had red hair, and looked a lot like that poster all the grunts had been given by the Sorcerer who was the leader of the syndicate that he was a member of.

Suddenly shaking with excitement, the boy grinned. He'd definitely get a promotion if he brought in the archrival of his master! Aiming the palm of is hand at the back of the red-headed boy, he summoned his powers, sending a compressed ball of wind towards the teen.

Sam's powers suddenly made him turn around. The air was rippling towards him, and on instinct, Sam dove out of the way. The missile went through the group, missing everyone, but clipping Nick. Spinning several times on the spot, Nick rubbed his arm where he had been hit, before turning an indignant stare at the boy. "Ok, so not happy now. Insecticide, go!"

Grabbing a Pokéball off of his belt, Nick let out his Butterfree. The purple insect buzzed and droned, looking at its master for instructions.

"Whirlwind."

Fluttering its wings at an incredible speed, Insecticide blew up a miniature gale, blowing it in the direction of the boy. Blinking in surprise, the boy stretched out his hand, summoning a staff in it. Pointing it in the direction of the oncoming attack, he stopped it in midair. Blinking in surprise, the flying insect narrowed its eyes, using its psychic powers to lend power to its attack. Fighting against the boy's own power, the Butterfree increased its power, until the gale was inching closer and closer to the boy. Widening his eyes, and beginning to sweat profusely, the boy put all he had into the attack, but his arms gave out at the end. The wind attack hit him, blowing him back in the undergrowth. Giving a triumphant nod, Insecticide flew over to Nick, landing delicately on his shoulder.

"Good job Insecticide." Nick said, grinning at his Pokemon. "That should get that over and done with. So, back to our discussion."

A sound pulled their attention back to where the boy had stood. Five black vortexes appeared on the ground, and five, black Heartless jumped out.

Coming out of the forestry, the boy, looked flushed and angry, levelled a glare at the group. "I'll teach you to make me look stupid."

"You weren't doing that anyway?" Kari asked, an innocent look in her face. Directing a special glare towards the girl, the boy pointed his fingers at the group.

"Ok, my Heartless, get 'em." The boy said maliciously. The Heartless leapt to attack, aiming the attacks at Kairi, their nearest target. Taking a step backwards, Kairi shook her head. Flicking out her hands, a shield appeared in them, creating a light that made the Heartless recoil.

Stepping forward as well, Sora called on the Keyblade, a clicking noise flooding the air as it appeared. Throwing it at the Heartless, it swept through two of them instantly, destroying them. Dashing forward, Kairi rammed her shield into another one, while a fourth was destroyed by bullets fired by Yuna.

Getting to his feet, Sam summoned Nirvana, pointing it at the final Heartless. "Water!" He cried, and in response, a ball of water burst from the tip of Nirvana, enveloping the Heartless and killing it.

Finding his forces decimated within thirty seconds, the boy visibly quailed. Gripping his staff, he stiffly looked at Sam's staff, it seemed to frighten him more than the others.

"Ok, you guys wanna play with fire, let's see if you can stand the heat." He said, raising his staff up and tapped it on the ground. "Master Nicholas, I have found Sorcerer Sam."

The skies visibly darkened instantly. Waiting for something to happen, Sam shook his head as he waited. Tapping his foot on the ground, he sighed.

"So, was that just for show? Or did the sun go behind a cloud coincidentally?" He asked, curious as to what the answer would be. Making a face, the boy shook his head, preparing to answer. He was cut off when the clouds swirled around, above the clearing they were in. A column of fire shot down, hitting the ground and knocking everyone off of their feet. Spiralling around, the body of Nick came out of the fire. Blinking in surprise as he turned around, Sam looked from the Nick with the fire, and the Nick who was currently being prodded by a Butterfree. Yes, there were definitely two of them.

Looking around at the group with amused eyes, Nick shook his head. "Well, not Sorcerer Sam, but definitely people I wanted to find. You're dismissed." Nick waved his hand; in response, the boy behind him disappeared in a trail of winds.

"So, the Crest Holders. I don't know how you got here, but this should provide amusement for me." Holding out his hands, two things appeared; his Sorcerer's staff, and in the other, Caladbolg. "Imagine my surprise when this thing didn't disappear. What can I say? It makes a nice souvenir. It'll make a better one when I kill you all with it. The blood stains will add that special touch to it."

Freezing, Nick heard a strange voice speaking over them all. Ignoring his Butterfree, who was still poking him, he looked up, to find himself standing there.

"Hey Nick! Guess what? I found you!"

"Thanks Sam, I found me too. Does anyone wanna hunt me down to destroy me, or will I just try and kill us all?" Nick replied sarcastically. Getting to his feet, Nick stretched out, glaring at his counterpart in this Dimension. "How come I always seem to be way powerful in every Dimension but my own?"

"Ignoring the fact you also seem to be homicidal in every Dimension but ours." Sam retorted. "And who was the one who got to the Top Eight in the Dictian League?"

Ignoring Sam, Nick just studied himself. "That's my voice?"

"Yeah, weird, huh?"

By now, everyone had gotten to their feet. Pulling out various weapons, the group faced the boy who seemed to exude an aura of power.

Giving a chuckle, Sorcerer Nick raised his staff, calling on a large barrier, similar to the one he had created in Macalania. Feeling a blast of heat hitting his face, Sam shook his head. Pointing Nirvana back at the barrier, he released a Water Spell, which created a small hole in the barrier of flames.

At that point, blasts went out from every long-ranged weapon in the area. Bullets melted on contact with the shield, arrows burst into flame, magic spells were simply absorbed and the Keyblade simply bounced off of the shield. Feeling decidedly worried, Sam sent another burst of water, which was the only success they had in breaking the barrier.

"Ok, this might be tricky. Hey Sam, you're a Summoner now, right?" Tidus called over to me, keeping a wary eye on the Sorcerer. When he saw my nod, he gave me a grin. "Well, show us what you can do."

Grabbing the idea, Sam turned back to the barrier, an evil glint in his eyes. Raising his staff above his head, his sent his power throughout the staff, projecting it upwards into the clouds. The temperature got noticeably colder, but hit zero when the Titan of Ice, Articuno, made its presence known. Landing next to Sam, it crooned and leaned in towards the Pokemon Trainer, looking at the fire barrier as scornfully as a cat would a mouse.

_This would be interesting._

To be continued…


End file.
